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SSTI Digest

DOE Issues Formal Response to CRENEL Report

The Department of Energy (DOE) has published a formal response to the final report of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL). The commission’s report, Securing America’s Future: Realizing the Potential of the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories found that the DOE Labs need to focus on six key themes: recognizing their value; rebuilding trust; maintaining alignment and quality; maximizing impact; managing effectiveness and efficiency; and, ensuring lasting change. In response to the recommendations offered in the CRENEL report, the DOE’s formal response indicates that the department is committed to executing the following objectives, including to:

IL, MI, NJ Face Difficult Decisions in Upcoming Budget Negotiations

Governors around the country continue to lay out priorities for the next legislative session. In the coming weeks, SSTI will review gubernatorial addresses and budget proposals related to economic development. This week, we highlight developments in Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey.

Immigrants Play Vital Role in U.S. Innovation, ITIF Report Finds

Immigrants play a significant role in American innovation, while women and minorities are underrepresented, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). In the report, the authors utilize a survey of more than 900 individuals who have contributed to the development of a notable technological innovation from 2011 to 2014, allowing them to gain additional insight on items such as their gender, ethnicity, education, funding sources, and age.

GAO: Increased Coordination Needed to Address Capital Access Gaps for Innovative Manufacturers

While the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) Economic Development Administration (EDA) continues to take steps to implement the Federal Loan Guarantees for Innovative Technologies in Manufacturing (ITM) program, additional steps remain before they can issue loan guarantees according to a new report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). To reduce redundancies across similar programs, GAO recommends that EDA works with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to identify additional gaps in capital access that the program could fill, and conduct outreach to help target those gaps.

17 Governors Sign Accord to Promote Clean Energy, Economic Prosperity

A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future – a joint commitment to support the deployment of renewable, cleaner and more efficient energy technologies and other solutions to make the U.S. economy more productive and resilient as well as spur job creation in member states. The multi-state effort will work to implement clean energy policies and initiatives in four areas: clean energy, clean transportation choices, a modern electrical grid, and plan for a new energy future. Although the accord doesn’t provide specific efforts, senior advisors to participating governors are expected to convene shortly to discuss initial steps to pursue their shared priorities and commitments according to solarindustrymag.com.

NIST Releases $70M National Manufacturing Institute FFA, First NNMI Reports Released

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a new Federal Funding Announcement (FFA) to award its first national manufacturing innovation institute (NMII). Proposers may solicit a new NMII on any advanced manufacturing technology focus area not already addressed by another institute or competition. NIST intends to make one award in the form of a cooperative agreement that will provide up to $70 million in federal support over a five-year period – NIST requires the awardee match federal funds with equal funding from non-federal sources. The solicitation is open to U.S.-owned entities organized and operated in the United States including U.S. states, local governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Applications must be submitted by July 22, 2016.

Useful Stats: Share of U.S. Venture Capital Activity and Per Capita Investment by State, 2010-2015

More than three-quarters of U.S. venture capital dollars went to companies in California, New York and Massachusetts in 2015, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Moneytree Report. California companies received over 57 percent of all U.S. investment, about 0.5 percent down from the state’s peak in 2014. Both New York and Massachusetts received about 10 percent of U.S. dollars. Washington, the state with the fourth highest share, trailed far behind at 2.1 percent. California and Massachusetts also both led in venture capital dollars per capita, taking in about $860 and $841 per resident, respectively. Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in deals per capita, with about 6.5 per 100,000 residents.

NSF Announces Funding to Establish, Sustain I-Corps Nodes

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a solicitation to establish and sustain Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Nodes as part of I-Corps’ National Innovation Network that builds upon fundamental research to guide the output of scientific discoveries closer to the development of technologies, products, processes and services that benefit society. NSF will commit up to $8.5 million to support seven I-Corps Nodes to foster understanding on how to:

  • Identify, develop and support promising ideas that can generate value;
  • Create and implement tools, resources and training activities;
  • Gather, analyze, evaluate and utilize the data and insight resulting from the experiences of those participating in regional programs; and,
  • Share and leverage effective innovation practices on a national scale.

Eligibility is restricted to institutions of higher education including community colleges as well as other nonprofit organizations. NSF requires that potential applicants submit a letter of intent by March 10. Read the FOA…

TBED Around the World: Governments Launch Startup Investment Funds to Spur Innovation, Prosperity

In the last month, several international countries and Hong Kong have made significant monetary contributions to establish investment funds that will make strategic investments in their country’s startups. These investment funds have a two-fold focus. First, they want to help provide early stage capital to companies that have the potential to spur economic prosperity within their borders. Second, they want to help make their companies more appealing to foreign investors.

Hong Kong
In January, Hong Kong’ s chief executive Leung Chun-ying announced the launch of a new $2 billion HKD (256.9 million USD) innovation and technology venture fund during a policy address. The fund will focus on making strategic investments to grow Hong Kong-based startup ventures with the intent of increasing funding from private venture funds through a matching process.

Govs Focus on Education in AL, LA, OK, PA, TN Budget Proposals

SSTI’s analysis of gubernatorial addresses, strategic plans and budget proposals continues this week with highlights from Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Governors are facing difficult fiscal situations in several of these states, often scaling back tech-based economic development efforts. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, however, is using a fiscal surplus to invest in higher education and regionally focused economic initiatives.

Alabama

Useful Stats: Venture Capital Investment Per Capita by Metro, 2015

Despite a small decrease in venture capital deals last year, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area remains the most active investment regions on a per capita basis, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) MoneyTree Report. San Francisco led all other MSAs in both total dollars and per capita activity, with its $21 billion in 2015 investment averaging about $4,500 per metro resident. NVCA notes that 133 metros were home to deals in 2015, an encouraging sign that opportunities are opening up in areas outside of the known hotspots.

San Francisco continues to be the U.S. VC metro by a large margin, but several other areas stand out from the pack. In San Jose- Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, the per capita average was around $3,200 per resident, and in third-ranked Boston, that figure was around $1,200. No other cities achieved per capita average over $1,000, though on a total dollars basis, New York and Los Angeles had similar levels of activity to San Jose and Boston.

CBPP Report: State Job Creation Strategies Often Misguided

State economic development policies that focus on deep income tax cuts or tax breaks to lure companies from other states ignore fundamental data points about job creation, and as a result are more likely to fail, according to a recently released report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. While alluding to the importance of encouraging entrepreneurship and firm survival more broadly, the authors also argue that public investments should be targeted at helping build a skilled workforce and improve the quality of life for residents.

Written by Michael Mazerov and Michael Leachman, two researchers from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, State Job Creation Strategies Often Off Base uses data from new databases developed by the federal government to track the job-creation record of specific businesses of various sizes and ages over time to shape their argument. The authors use this data to detail two fundamental points about job creation that are critical to their argument.